Oracle Blog

If it's Java-related, it's on-topic!

Monday Mar 19, 2012

Occasionally, I'd like to share a blog I've discovered or that someone has passed along to me. Criteria are few, but in a nutshell, it must be:

Java-related. (Doh!)

Interesting. A good blog is exciting to read at some level, whether due to perspective, eye-catching writing, or technical insight. It doesn't have to read like a Stephen King novel, but it should grab you somehow.

Technically deep or technically broad. A site that dives deeply, quickly is a great reference for particular topics/tasks. On the other hand, one that covers a lot of ground at a high-but-still-technical level can be a handy site to visit occasionally as well. Both are what I consider "bookmarkable", but for different reasons.

Drumroll, please...

With that in mind, this Blog Spotlight is cast upon mkyong.com, a site I stumbled across that offers a little bit of everything for various Java dev audiences. The title indicates the site is for "Java web development tutorials", and indeed it does have these: JSF, Spring, Struts, Hibernate, JAX-WS, JAX-RS, and numerous other topics are addressed to varying degrees.

The site isn't devoted exclusively to server-side tutorials, though. Recent posts include mobile development topics, and the links at the bottom of the page connect you to reference pages and other useful sites.

I've poked around through a couple of the tutorials and, while they won't take you from "zero to hero", they do seem to provide a nice overview of the subject at hand. They also offer an occasional explanatory comment that is missing from far too many texts, sites, and doc pages. It's not a perfect site, but I like it.

About

The Java Jungle addresses topics from mobile to enterprise Java, tech news to techniques, and anything even remotely related. The goal is to help us all do our work better with Java, however we use it.

Your Java Jungle guide is Mark Heckler, an Oracle Senior Java/Middleware/Core Engineer with development experience in numerous environments. Mark's current work pursuits and passions all revolve around Java and leave little time to blog or tweet - but somehow, he finds time to do both anyway.

Mark lives with his very understanding wife & kids in the St. Louis, MO area.